Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

Had a terrific marketing mentor call with a new client who has made MILES of progress in the short time since we started working together.

During our last conversation, I praised his action-orientation, and the great progress he’s made in recent weeks. He acknowledged how much better he felt about his marketing, positioning, and programs.

But then he asked me a powerful question - “David, if I’ve made this much progress, why am I not making more money?”

I gave him my initial responses (it's still early in the game, not enough prospecting activity, no consistent sales process) but since then I’ve developed many more reasons that speakers, authors, coaches, and consultants aren’t making the money that they know they could and SHOULD be making.

Here are the top 17 reasons YOU might not be making the money you want and deserve. Do a quick self-check with the ones that resonate the most with YOU:

1. You’re great at delivering your product or service but you’re terrible at marketing and sales
2. You’re not getting the right kind of marketing or sales help in time – or at all!
3. You’re not delegating or hiring part-time help to take care of the “intelligent gruntwork.”
4. You don’t have a business plan/goal/vision/destination in mind, including failure to plan for failure!
5. You have no differentiation – you’re trying to market me too, “Same-o Lame-o” boring stuff
6. You don’t take yourself seriously (indicated by homemade business cards, freebie website, trying to cut every corner, etc.)
7. You over-invest in these same things – fancy business cards, $25,000 website, overly expensive and overly broad advertising, and you think that’s enough
8. You lack obvious expertise and you ignore thought leadership in your marketing mix
9. You’re a mass generalist not an expert specialist – you try to be all things to all people
10. You don’t develop alliances – Stop trying to succeed alone. Joint venture, build alliances, or use strategic partners
11. You’re not connecting with prospects on their most relevant, urgent, and expensive issues
12. You don’t have a defined sales process and find yourself winging it almost every time
13. Your proactive outbound prospecting plan consists of sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring. (Not good!)
14. You’re forgetting that we live in the Attention Economy - first you must earn your prospects’ attention and only THEN will you have a chance to earn their money
15. You’re relying too much on one marketing channel (email, social media, direct mail, networking) and your prospects are starting to see you as an annoying pest, not a welcome guest
16. You’re not adding enough tangible sources of excellence to your marketing mix - in other words, you’re failing to create marketing materials that are too good to throw away!
17. You underestimate the amount of time and/or money it will take to grow your business successfully. Remember, not all things are going to work the first time. Or the tenth. Plan for experimentation, testing, and thousands of small adjustments along the way

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p.s. Want to make sure your business is focused on what matters most to maximize your influence AND income?

Download your copy of the Do It! Marketing Manifesto for free right here.

OK I have to say it...

Here's the deal, people - ASK your next coach, guru, teacher, or mentor the following questions based on the subject you're enrolling to learn.

For example...

1. Speaker marketing coach:

• How many times a year do you speak FOR MONEY? 
• At what fee? 
• Who are five of your most recent paid speaking clients?

2. Book marketing coach:

• Is your book self-published or with a major publisher? 
• How many books have you sold? 
• If you claim "bestseller" status - what lists and for how long were you on the list? 
• Where is your book TODAY in amazon sales rank (less than 25,000 is good)

3. Group coaching/online course creation guru:

• How many group coaching programs or courses have you run? 
• Since when have you been filling your own groups? 
• What's your average enrollment? 
• At what price point? 
• Can you show me the sales page for three of your recent programs?

4. Infoproduct coach:

• How many infoproducts do you currently sell? 
• What's your monthly sales volume on your top 2-3 products? 
• Can you show me the sales pages for several of your products?

5. Private Coaching guru:

• How many private coaching clients do YOU currently work with? 
• What are your coaching packages and fees? 
• Do you charge by the hour? (It's a BIG red flag if they say yes!) 
• What percentage of your coaching business is repeat and referral? 
• What's the average amount of time and money that clients spend with you?

6. Marketing/business growth coach:

• How long have you been running your business? 
• Do you have other sources of income besides this business? 
• What are they? 
• What are the typical outcomes clients get from working with you? 
• Have you DONE what I want to do - or do you just teach it? 
• How many clients have you worked with? 
• What separates your successful clients from your not-so-successful ones? 
• Then check out their recommendations on Linkedin and their client testimonials on their website (how specific are they? how many? how credible? Full attribution with person's name, company, position, etc?)

There are a lot of people out there who LOOK like they have it going on - pitching their "Million Dollar" this and "Million Dollar" that...

Sad to say, a LOT of it is smoke and mirrors. Motivation, inspiration, pretty websites, great photos of smiling, jubilant bootcamp or retreat attendees, a big social media footprint, great looking videos...

But scratch the surface and the gold glitter starts to flake off in big chunks as you realize you've just been taken for a ride by a very pretty or handsome con artist and suddenly, you're out a few thousand dollars (or a lot more) with nothing to show for it except that empty feeling in the pit of your stomach that you're not any closer to achieving your goals for your business, your bank account, or your lifestyle.

Don't follow the herd - you're not a lemming or a sheep.

Find the people who are the REAL DEAL, who only preach what they themselves practice, invest wisely, and choose carefully.

That is all. Rant ends here.

And next time - we'll tackle the rant of the CLIENT who does not do. (That rant might be even juicier than this one, don't you agree?)

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!

1. Most business coaching isn’t really “coaching” - it’s much more 1-on-1 consulting or training or mentoring. The traditional coaching model assumes that the client has the answers  - the coach shows up only with questions. In most business situations in which you as a speaker, author, consultant, or independent professional would be asked for “coaching” - what the prospect is really asking for is 1-on-1 access to you for both questions AND answers

2. Setting up a coaching or 1-on-1 mentoring profit center can be fast, easy and lucrative - When I started adding 1-on-1 marketing coaching services to my offerings back in 2003, I was working hourly (huge mistake). Even then, I would make between $500-$1500 per month per client. And it took me zero prep because clients were paying to tap into knowledge and expertise that I already had! Today I sell three sessions for $2,500 and 90 days for $8,500. Crazy, right?

3. Coaching is a commodity and most coaches are broke - While this is true (sadly), that doesn’t mean that you can’t break the mold. And also remember that this fact is about traditional life coaching or success coaching - NOT business coaching. According to surveys by the International Coach Federation (ICF), the median annual income for coaches is $29,100. That means that HALF of all coaches make even LESS than that! So obviously, this is NOT the private coaching model that I am recommending to you. Instead…   

4. Adding “private coaching” (really 1-on-1 consulting/mentoring) to your business model can vastly increase your earning potential as a speaker, consultant, author, and high-fee expert. Before I started my marketing coaching practice, my sole source of revenue was speaking and training. Clients and audiences would ask me, “What’s next?” and my answer was limited to “What’s the next seminar or training class you need?” Today, the answer is a scalable, high-profit series of private coaching programs. For each of the past 6 years, I’ve generated over $200,000 in private coaching income. That’s over a million dollars during that time - and that’s in addition to my other revenue streams.  

5. You do NOT need to be a certified coach and work through hundreds of hours of training to offer 1-on-1 private coaching programs - All you need is a well-packaged program, a systematic and repeatable process, and some structure for how you want to deliver value in a highly-personalized 1-on-1 relationship with your very best clients who will happily pay premium fees for direct access to you and the expertise you already have.  

6. People WANT to take you home. If you’re a successful speaker, consultant, author, or high-fee expert, buying private coaching from you can be a huge ego-boost for high-achieving executives and entrepreneurs. If your private coaching program is systematized, well-marketed, and well-documented - it will be extremely well-received by clients. Yet so many folks can't quite crack the code of how to add private 1-on-1 coaching to their professional practice…

7. It’s both easier - and harder - than it looks. Read this post for a cautionary tale about a completely unethical and incompetent way to offer private coaching programs. That is NOT the path I recommend. Rather, you need to sit back and strategically decide how to create, promote and profit from private coaching programs you can build around the expertise you ALREADY have. If you want some fast-track help to make the planning, implementation, and monetization way easier, faster, and more profitable, book a free strategy call with one of our coaches.

p.s. Want to apply for your Speaker Strategy Call to see how you can USE some of these ideas right away? Apply for your call here.

• Imagine you're focused
• Imagine it's working 
• Imagine you've mastered marketing
• Imagine you truly enjoy selling 
• Imagine clients must qualify for you 
• Imagine you're worth premium fees
• Imagine you have unlimited prospects
• Imagine money flowing easily to you
• Imagine punching people in the face with value 
• Imagine your money worries fading away
• Imagine a clear game plan that you execute on daily
• Imagine your business doubling, then tripling
• Imagine working only when you want 
• Imagine doing only work you want to do and delegating or outsourcing everything else
• Imagine you are #1
• Imagine you're a rock star in your industry 
• Imagine you're booked solid 
• Imagine you have your pick of high-profit projects
• Imagine moving from five figures to six figures - or from six figures to multiple six figures on your way to seven!
• Imagine speaking to hundreds of people regularly 
• Imagine partnering with other experts whom you look up to as role models and now are lucky enough to call friends
• Imagine generating thousands of web visitors 
• Imagine building a huge tribe of loyal followers, fans, and subscribers 
• Imagine doing this all in 13 days, 13 weeks, 13 months, or if you're really slow and silly (like me) 13 years 
• You can do it

p.s. I know you can
Because I did
Starting 13 years ago today
Knowing what I know now, I'm confident YOU can do much (or all) of this in the next 13 months 

Do your future self a favor: 
Start.
Right.
Now.

What. 

Matters. 

Most. 

Every single day. 

Focus on it.

Refocus on it. 

Repeat it. Reinforce it. Review it. 

Remind yourself.

Think, strategize, and DO accordingly. 

Here's to an amazing, prosperous, and successful year for you, your family, your business and your bank account!

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p.s. Want to make sure your year is focused on what matters most?

Download your copy of the Do It! Marketing Manifesto for free right here.

If you want to make the next 12 months more successful, more profitable, and more productive than the last 12 months, these ten strategies are for you.

By the way, this list isn’t just for a new calendar year – you can revisit this list at any time and create a real turning point in your business if you’re willing to reboot, reinvigorate, and reimagine your business success.

1. List the three most important objectives for your business over the next year. These should be critical “big picture” accomplishments that will lead to profits and future achievement.
2. For each objective listed above, identify your responsibility in achieving the objective. WHAT will you do? HOW will you do it? WHEN will you do it?
3. Be crystal clear in separating strategies (how and why items) from tactics (what and when items) and use “Verb-noun-date” format to create specific action steps and put them on your calendar.
4. Don’t think of the year as a whole. Break it down to monthly metrics and put quarterly goal-planning reviews on your calendar so you can adjust the dials on your plan, measure results, and take a strategic look at your marketing, sales, and business development activities every 90 days while keeping a close eye on results (profits, clients, projects, revenue) every 30 days.
5. Don’t go it alone. Remember, lone wolves starve to death. Think of partners, allies, referral sources, influencers and joint venture partners who can help you leapfrog over obstacles and who are a great supplement and complement to your own products and services. Contact them and build (or grow) your relationship with them so you can collaborate more closely – starting right now.
6. Write down a list of professional development goals for the next 12 months. What do you want to learn, do, or become as a business owner? Go to conferences? Gain additional certifications or professional designations? Speak more? Get more articles published? Be specific and put these activities on your calendar so you make sure they happen.
7. Write down a list of personal goals for the next 12 months. What do you want to accomplish for yourself and how would you like to grow personally? Spend more time with your partner? Stay connected with your kids as they grow up and/or pursue their college or post-college adventures? Dig deeper into a special hobby or sport? Drop 10 pounds? Run a 5K? More golf? More vacation time? Where? When? With whom? Map it out to make it happen!
8. Don’t get distracted. Shiny object syndrome has a powerful pull on most entrepreneurs and business owners. Stay focused on the big picture goals you set in Step 1 above – and then relentlessly ask yourself for every new idea, initiative or project, “Does this support one of my three goals? If so, how?” And don’t let yourself off the hook as easily as you might have done in the past. If it’s a no, it’s a no. Metaphorically speaking, stop opening up hot dog stands in the parking lot and redouble your efforts to make your gourmet restaurant thrive!
9. Live out of your calendar, not your inbox. Plan your day – what MUST get done and WHEN? Chunk your day down into blocks and assign specific tasks to those blocks – Phone calls, emails, client tasks, whatever it is YOU want to do that will move you closer to your GOALS. Keep that calendar under your nose. All day. Make it your default screen. Hide, minimize or (gasp) close your email until “check email” pops up on your calendar.
10. Breathe. Relax. You got this. Any time you’re creating an inflection point in your business, it can be scary. You’re letting go of the old – letting go of what no longer works or what no longer serves you well. And you’re embracing the new – the untried, the uncomfortable, perhaps even what seems risky. But the biggest risks of all are stagnation, arrogance, or complacency. Remember: a bend in the road is never a dead end… unless you fail to turn.

Ready to rock your 2015?

Grab your free copy of the Do It! Marketing Manifesto and get ready to go, go, GO!!!

Smart marketing is all about helping you generate MORE leads, BETTER prospects, and BIGGER sales. That also happens to be the purpose of this cheeky, powerful little manifesto. Grab yours here. 

Too many small and solo business owners get bent out of shape about referrals - they don’t get enough, or they give too many that go unappreciated, or they expect payment without ever asking for payment or making their expectations clear.

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Susan,

Thank you so much for the referral to Paul - I appreciate you.

Will keep you posted as to what develops.

Thinking optimistically - assuming Paul signs on as a client - how do you like to handle referrals financially speaking?

I'm happy to give some referral partners a 10% thank-you gift (for working with folks like Paul, the typical fee is XXXX so 10% is YYY) - some other folks just prefer a nice dinner out via a gift card - and some folks who refer business to me insist on nothing more than good karma and reciprocation when appropriate.

Just let me know and then we can bust the doors down for Paul!!

-- David

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On the other hand, when GIVING a referral, and if that referral shows up at your referral partner’s door, this version of the same note might help you STOP feeling like a martyr and set clear expectations from the get-go that you DO like to be compensated while asking your referral partner what arrangement would make them comfortable:

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Susan,

I’m so glad Paul ended up connecting with you and that you two discussed the possibility of working together. Please do keep me posted as to what develops.

Thinking optimistically - assuming Paul signs on as a client - how do you like to handle referrals financially speaking?

Some of my referral partners share a 10% cash referral fee - some other folks underwrite a nice dinner out via a gift card - and others show their appreciation in other ways (services, discounts, lavish gift baskets, etc).

Just let me know how you like to operate and that will open the door for even more introductions to great folks like Paul in the future.

I appreciate you.

-- David

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!

In honor of this sugar-filled yet frightful holiday, here are 17 things that should scare the heck out of YOU and any small business owner, entrepreneur, or independent professional...

1. Prospects who lie. And they all lie all the time.
2. Business partnerships. No, no, noooooo!!! Don’t do it. EVER.
3. Arrogance
4. Complacency
5. Inertia (Yours and your prospects and clients too)
6. Not having a sales process - or not sticking to the one you have
7. Nightmare clients from hell
8. Tire-kickers, price shoppers, and broke-ass losers
9. Social media overload
10. Making payroll every two weeks - even if it’s only paying yourself
11. Hiring, firing, and everything in between
12. Prospects who ask for free consulting
13. Not hiring a great IP attorney to protect your brand/ logo/ trademarks
14. Waking up in a cold sweat realizing your REAL job is sales
15. Prospects seeing your products, services, and programs as a commodity
16. Not outsourcing and delegating everything you possibly can
17. Collecting great marketing ideas - but never implementing them (Aaarghhhhh!!)

What would YOU add to this list?

Please leave a comment below and let's discuss...